Zaydok the Godhop MC

Born in Buffalo New York, a rust belt city on the shores of Lake Erie in upstate New York which has ranked nationally as a top 5 poorest city in America candidate consistently for the past two decades, has given Zaydok a life experience that has well equipped him to be a voice for the gospel in the pulpit and in the recording studio. Born to a 17 year old mother, Zaydok learned early the importance of faith and a support system that can help get you through the good and bad episodes that are guaranteed with life. With a natural affinity and gift for music which all of his family tells him he inherited from his father whom he has never personally met, at the age of 11 he started to explore expressing his feelings and thoughts through singing and rap. His first performance for people other than family was at the age of 10 when he was entered into a local youth talent show by his mother and aunt in which he came in second place and that was enough for him to believe that he would one day be a star...lol. He wrote his first rap lyrics at the age of 12 just because he wanted to be included in the rap cyphers that were famous in his uncle's backyard where his older cousins and other young men from the neighborhood would bring out turntables, keyboards, speakers and microphones and do their own neighborhood concerts and his cousins felt he was too young and didn't know anything about rapping. In order for them to let him touch the microphone he went home and stayed up all night just to write four bars and the rest is history. Fast forward through the high school years where he sharpened his skill in the hallways, at bus stops, the back of school buses and cafeterias, at the age of 19 his reputation as a battle rapper on the local high school scene caused him to be invited by some of his peers to join a local rap group that was called Upstate Entertainment. Until this very day many in the western New York area from the late 90's and early 2000's will tell you that it was probably the most promising rap act to ever do it out of Buffalo New York. Simultaneously, as Zaydok was making a name for himself on the streets as a battle rapper, he was also introduced to the gospel by some peers. What really was interesting to him was that as he started to study with these friends and read the bible for himself it brought back to him the things that his grandmother had taught him when he was much younger when she would hold bible study with the family and would take him and his siblings to church with her. Because it was not something his mother participated in (as them going to church with grandma was just an opportunity for some time away from the kids for her) it didn't really stick as it wasn't a part of their everyday home life . As the years went on and he was taught through the gift of the holy spirit, he became convinced more and more of the truth about the existence of God and the purpose of man. As this transition happened it started to conflict with the type of music that he was still doing. So he actually had come to a decision to stop rapping

because as yougrab a mic to brag and boast of self,especially the corrupt side of one's self, in no way is it in line with the testimony of Jesus Christ or the commandments of God. So he decided to take some time off from the mic and quit his group, to the dismay of some of the members. He asked God to give him the ability to be able to still rap with the aggressiveness and confidence that he had already developed, but for it to be used to glorify God and the truth that he had been taught and if so, he'd use rap as a tool to encourage his peers who were still in the streets and anyone who may like rap music but looking for an alternative to the negative aspects that are usually promoted through rap music in the mainstream. After a few months he started to write again and he found that he was able to expound through lyrics what God was putting in his heart. In the secular world Zay has performed alongside and opened up for some of the biggest names in Hiphop at the time. But he feels his greatest satisfaction in front of an audience came in his first opportunity to present his strictly God-centered music in front of a church that allowed local Christian rappers to showcase their abilities to some no doubt which doubted if the spirit of the gospel can really be presented through the art form. Since 2007, Zaydok has been on a mission to not only bring the influence of God's Word through rap music but to also unify with and support his peers in the genre, both locally and nationally. He's off to a great start. At the end of 2012 he came up with the idea and co-founded a quarterly Christian Hiphop centered event in western New York called the ICU, which introduces and showcases national and regional Christian rap talent to the church and community. Recently, this event has expanded to become an all weeke event which allows artists to do two nights of music ministry presentation in the United States and Canada. In the spring of 2014 Zaydok co-founded and became the President of Rebel Against the World Ministries which is a conglomerate of western New York Christ centered rap artists who saw the sense in becoming a unified movement to propagate Christian Hiphop in the region and beyond. With his dedication to the teaching of God's Word as an assistant bible teacher in his home church and with his love of his family and community, Zaydok is committed to using his gift of music as yet another tool in his box of outlets that allows him to really serve the purpose that he is convinced he was born into the world for...to serve God andevangelize his truth to the humanity which he so dearly loves. If you are looking for music that is spirit-led and will edify your heart in love then Zaydok theGodhop MC is an artist that you want to become very familiar with.